The present invention relates to devices for carrying information concerning a product and, more specifically, to an information carrier carrying coded information regarding a product to which it is adapted to be affixed.
During the manufacture of a product such as an automobile, wherein a variety of equipment or different components is added during the course of the finishing of the product as it travels down an assembly line, there is a need to inform workers at spaced installation stations along the assembly line regarding the precise equipment to be added. A conventional method of supplying such information is to provide a sheet listing the equipment to be added carried in a transparent sleeve which is tied or otherwise held by the product, so that a worker can read the sheet as the product enters his or her installation station to determine if any equipment is to be added at that station.
This method of supplying information is not particularly desirable for use on a high speed assembly line or where there are multiple possibilities or variables in the equipment to be added. The sheet is not especially conducive to being read by automated means. Additionally, it is advantageous in the avoidance or reduction of errors to mate the information carrier and the incipient product at the earliest possible time in the manufacturing process and that the information carrier and product not thereafter be separated. In the manufacture of an automobile, an ideal time for affixing the information is at the time of selection of the frame. However, it is not practicable to install a plastic sleeve holding the equipment listing sheet at this early stage because severe environment steps lie ahead in the manufacturing process. The plastic sleeve would be destroyed or rendered useless if it accompanied the product through, for example, application of the primer or paint, a rust prevention dipping process, or an oven for baking the paint. Of course, separation of the sleeve from the product as the product undergoes severe environment processing and reattachment of the sleeve thereafter is likely to foster errors in that a sleeve might be lost or reattached to the wrong product.
It has been proposed to attach a transponder to the frame for scanning at various points on the assembly line. A transponder is a re-programmable chip that causes emission of a unique signal when it is passed through a magnetic field. The transponder can contain information regarding the type of model, color and option content of the vehicle. Transponders are so expensive that they are removed from the vehicle at the end of the assembly line for reuse. Their use has not been widespread because of the fear that they deteriorate over time.